The Death Cure || 1

Chapter One

GALLYS POV:

My eyes whipped open, my back snapping upright in an instant, my legs recoiling as I did so, my clothed skin feeling the tickle of prickly substance beneath me.

I was surrounded by fields, long grass dancing in the wind like waves, caressing the dilapidated wooden buildings sodden with dew. The small trees basked in the sunlight harshly beating down on them, highlighting their luscious green leaves hydrated as if there had just been a fresh shower, their roots like gnarled hands digging into the rock floor for food.

I looked beyond them, their naturalistic allure escaping my attention. A grove of trees looked crippled and close to dying, enclosing walls, huge walls menacing over me, their stony prison-like structures holding me claustrophobicly tight, suffocating me with their unwavering layers of strong cement as I had remembered the maze from my salvageable memory.

"No."

"No no no."

I gasped, jolting up to my feet as I began running to the exit, the parting in the walls slowly grinding against the concrete floor supporting them. I ran faster, desperate to escape. A mixture of smells bombarding me, sweat, dirt, dust from the stale air. But as I grew closer, the space grew tighter, and tighter, solidifying me in a bone breaking vice of broken vines, a lurching shudder shaking the floor beneath me.

All I could do was scream, ripping my throat raw, as the maze claimed me as it's own, realising that I could never be free. With one final quench, my skull released an ear splitting crunch that echoed through the glade.

A sharp gasp bursted through my cracked lips, a sickening white glare battling my vision for dominance, stabbing my eyes with relentless spears of light, achingly drying my shrinking pupils.

After a while, and not without difficulty, my eyelids peeled open to reveal my less than sanitary surroundings.

No people, but there had been. Even so, I was relieved. I was out, I never had to go back again. I was out.

I could feel a delicate tickle on my left temple, like something descending down to my cheek and jaw. I raised my left arm to interrupt the sweat beading down my face in its irritating path.

Mistake number one, as it was only viscously forced back down by a searing pain shooting down my shoulder blade.

I sucked in a short agonising breath, grunting in discomfort as a new throbbing sensation wriggled it's way through my muscles, my viens too small to withstand the volume of the ache coursing through them, my lungs burning with white hot oxygen.

I scanned the room again, my vision slowly clearing. I was on a rickety steel bed that was cold against my bare skin that sent icy palpitations up my arms. The room remained the same however, no people around. There were a few windows frosted with dust and doorless frames that were randomly placed around the wooden building, but nothing special.

I caught sight of an exit, that happened to be occupied by a lanky, dark haired guy who had his arms loosely folded over his contrastingly buff chest, staring me down. I involuntarily jerked to the side, the look of him scaring me half to death, huffing loudly in attempts to retain my guard.

"You drool in your sleep." He shrugged, continuing to scold his gaze into me.

Before I could protest, the guy walked out, darkly chuckling to himself as he did so with his arms randomly raised in surrender, until I noticed a girl promptly walking past, playfully smacking him in the chest with the back of her hand.